Bob Provine and Chloe Lane Bush were crowned the King and Queen of Cotton for 2016 at the 59th annual Junior Auxiliary Charity Cotton Ball, which was held Saturday night at the Leflore County Civic Center.
Cheers from the celebrating crowd accompanied King Bob and Queen Chloe on their royal walk up the center aisle to take their places onstage with past royalty, the 2016 Cotton Maids and the Children’s Court.
King Bob Provine
The 2016 Cotton Ball King, Bob Provine, is truly a self-made man, a pilot and entrepreneur and involved citizen of Greenwood. Born to Robert Ellis and Mildred Lee Provine in 1946, Bob spent his first 10 years living on Wildwood Plantation, where his grandfather, Braxton Bragg Provine Sr., farmed. Bob’s father was a partner in the cotton offices of Provine, Sabin & Wiggins, and it was assumed that young Bob would follow his family’s tradition of farming and brokering cotton.
But before he was even out of high school, Bob had fallen in love with flying — first with John Emmerich, then Margaret Shipley and later Gilmore Simms, who encouraged Bob to pursue his dream of becoming a crop duster.
While serving his country for six years in the Marine Reserves, Bob worked for Kyle-Walker Flying Service and Leflore Flying Service before striking out on his own, starting a one-man operation with one Cessna in 1973. Bob’s dedication and can-do personality allowed the business to grow and succeed, but he had even bigger plans on the horizon.
In 1982, Bob drove to Scottsdale, Arizona, loaded a used helicopter on a flatbed trailer and hauled it back to Greenwood. One minor problem was that he had no idea how to fly a helicopter, but an instructor was found in Tupelo, and Bob headed there for flight lessons.
Over the next 30 years, that one helicopter would grow into a fleet of 11 choppers and an innovative approach to forestry and right-of-way spraying, aerial surveys and charter flights. By 2013, Provine Helicopter Service was active in 12 states and had sprayed more than 7.5 million acres of forests.
Flying has been Bob Provine’s career, but his dedication to family, church and community have never taken a back seat. He has served as a Greenwood Boys Club director, president of the Greenwood Investment Club and as a Vestry member, Stewardship chairman and senior warden of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity. In recognition of his innovative skills and dedication to flying, he has served as chairman of the Mississippi Agricultural Aviation Board and pilot director, vice president and president of the Mississippi Agricultural Aviation Association. That organization has honored him as Operator of the Year and as the recipient of the Lee Abide Award.
Bob is married to Paula Polson Provine and is the father of two daughters, Robbin Provine Chamblee and Fraiser Provine Mattox, and the grandfather of six. His sister, Caroline Provine Henry, was the very first Cotton Ball Queen in 1957, and his grandfather, Braxton Bragg Provine Sr., was Cotton Ball King in 1959.
Queen Chloe Lane Bush
Queen Chloe is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Gorton Jenkins of Spring Hill, Tennessee, and Mr. and Mrs. John Miller Bush II of Greenwood. She is the granddaughter of Mrs. Clyde Kelley Carpenter and the late Mr. Carpenter and Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Miller Bush of Schlater.
Queen Chloe and her family have a long history with cotton farming. Her paternal great-great-great-grandfather, James Bluford Ferguson, raised cotton in Carroll County as early as 1860. Her great-great-grandfather, Vaiden Ferguson, continued cotton farming until 1951.
Queen Chloe’s maternal great-great-great-grandfather, Civil War veteran Henry Carpenter, raised cotton in Carroll County as early as 1850, and her great-great-grandfather, Owen Carpenter, as early as 1880, and her great-grandfather, Clyde Carpenter, farmed until 1917.
Queen Chloe’s great-grandfather, John Miller Bush, when newly married, started farming cotton in 1931 at the age of 18 with his father and brother in Carroll County. In 1944, Miller and his wife, Bennie F, welcomed the opportunity to move to Leflore County, where they farmed Fort Loring Plantation in Itta Bena. Following success there, they bought Tupelo Plantation south of Schlater in 1950. Because of Miller’s innovative and progressive farming practices, he and Bennie F were successful in an operation that is still active today.
Queen Chloe’s grandfather, Wayne Bush, joined the family farming operation in 1958 after graduating from Mississippi State University. To name only a couple of his cotton farming accomplishments, in 1985 Wayne was named Farmer of the Year by Cotton Grower magazine, and he was named Mississippi Farmer of the Year in 1996.
Queen Chloe’s father, John Bush, followed in his father’s footsteps and has been involved in the family business since 1982 upon graduating from Mississippi State. During Queen Chloe’s childhood, her father and grandfather received many awards that pertained to cotton and soybean farming.
Today, the farming operation has grown to include Queen Chloe’s uncles, each being named Young Farmer of the Year for Leflore County. Along with cotton, corn and soybeans are farmed.
Queen Chloe and her family have been involved with the Junior Auxiliary of Greenwood and the Cotton Ball for many years. Her mother and aunts served in Junior Auxiliary. Queen Chloe herself was a member of the Junior Auxiliary Crown Club, and in 2013, she was presented as a Maid of Cotton, being sponsored by Scott Petroleum.
In 2008, her sister, Anna Warr, was presented as a Maid of Cotton and was also a member of Junior Auxiliary Crown Club. In 1987, Queen Chloe’s grandfather, Wayne Bush, was crowned King of Cotton by the Junior Auxiliary.
Queen Chloe is a longtime member of North Greenwood Baptist Church, where she was a very active member while growing up in Greenwood.
A 2013 honor graduate of Pillow Academy, Queen Chloe was a member of the Pillow Academy Hall of Fame, Mustang Club and served on the Student Council as senior class president. She represented Pillow Academy in the MAIS Academic Betterment Competition four consecutive years in high school and was a member of Green and Gold Ambassadors, Spanish Club and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Queen Chloe’s civic recognitions include the Lion’s Club Youth Leadership program in which she received the Myrl McCormick Scholarship and the Rotary Club Student of the Month. She was a member of the Junior Auxiliary Crown Club, Altrusa’s ASTRA Club and served as secretary for Delta Belles.
An athlete by nature, Queen Chloe received several honors and awards for her athletic abilities and leadership skills involving basketball, cheerleading and soccer, in which she was the first recipient of the Bobo Champion Scholarship. She still enjoys participating in intramural sports at the University of Mississippi.
Queen Chloe was honored her senior year of high school with the Miss Mustang Spirit Award, Miss Pillow Academy, Most Beautiful, Most Creative and was homecoming queen. She was chosen as a beauty her freshman, sophomore and junior years.
Queen Chloe is a junior attending the University of Mississippi, where she is an active member of Chi Omega Sorority. She is pursuing a degree in integrated marketing communications. Queen Chloe has remained active in community service in Oxford during her years at Ole Miss, as well as working during her summers and scheduled semesters.
